An item of headwear, the pussy hat, made news in 2017 when women gathered through social media and local events to create the iconic hat. The hat became a part of the Women’s March that took place in January in Washington DC as well as in cities such as St. Paul, Minnesota. This research involves participant observation of the hat-making process and the hat wearing during marches in Washington DC and Minnesota. Findings revealed the effectiveness of the pussy hat in calling attention to the events that took place prior to and during the marches in January 2017. However, examination of the pussy hat included many variations in form, i.e. colour, texture and shape and the meaning represented some but not all voices of the march.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Introduction/Significance. Much has been written in the media about the Women's March that took place January 21, 2017, in Washington D.C., around the country, and on seven continents, and the reasons for females to march in support of their genders' progress toward justice and equality. One of the powerful icons of this resistance, the pussy hat, bears further examination. Two female activists designed the original patterns, shared them online, and encouraged women around the world to make the cat-eared hats (Pussy Hat Project, 2017). Hats were easily created by women with varying skills, by knitting or crocheting fiber or cutting and sewing on fabric. Women who were unable to march due to health reasons or disabilities considered hat making to outfit marchers as their mode of resistance. The pussy hat was prominently displayed on the cover of Time magazine and in an essay by Vick "The Resistance Rises" (February 6, 2017). The accompanying photograph, which captured the march in an aerial view with the background of the Washington monument and flags flying, clearly impresses the viewer with the sea of hot pink perched on the heads of the protesters. The purpose of this study was to understand motivations for participating in the Women's March. The researchers aimed to document events at the marches, explore marchers' perspectives, and observe communication (both verbal and nonverbal). The research questions were: 1. Why are people marching in the Women's March on Washington on January 21, and 2. What role does dress play in the march? Theoretical Framework. We used symbolic interaction theory, specifically, the essay "Appearance and the Self" as a guideline to analyze the data (Stone, 1962). "A primary tenet of all symbolic, interaction theory holds that the self is established, maintained, and altered in and through communication" (Stone, 1962, p. 19). This essay expanded symbolic interaction theory to explain the role of appearance. Non-verbal symbols allow the viewer to interpret a wearer's identity through social transactions and discourse. We also interpreted the meaning of the pussy hats as symbols through the form, viewer, and context aesthetic analysis framework (DeLong, 1998). Form encompassed factors perceptible through the senses such as color, surface texture, shape, and silhouette. Meaning could differ across individuals, influenced by viewers' personalities, beliefs, attitudes, and backgrounds. Finally, the context involved cultural, seasonal, temporal, and geographic factors that influenced meaning formation. Methods. The study aimed to answer the research questions by using an inductive approach with observations and audio recorded interviews of the event attendants 18 and older. Authors collected data in Washington, D.C., and in St. Paul. The goals of the ethnographic process were to observe dress as a tool of nonverbal communication and to understand referent meanings of the pussy hat. The interview schedule included demographics and 11 open-ended questions. Videos were recorded, photographs we...